


Puzzles of Memory (won't you help me?)

by LegacyWorks



Series: I am Me (no need to ask questions) [3]
Category: One Piece
Genre: 5+1, Also quarentine is boring but that's fine, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Bonding, Crew as Family, Everyone is genderbent because I felt like it, Female Usopp (One Piece), Fluff, Gen, Genderswap, I can't stop myself from working on this fic, Puzzles, That is all, Usopp just likes her puzzles, Usopp-centric (One Piece), everyone is genderbent, feminism I guess, kind of, shameless fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:54:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23485639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LegacyWorks/pseuds/LegacyWorks
Summary: “Would you like company as you work?” Robin asked.“Absolutely! Not that I need it, of course. I am the Master of Puzzles, known among all the blues to have the analytical mind necessary for working my way through and concentrating harder than any who have come before or after me! Of course, I had to give away my title, lest challengers stop coming forth and the art of puzzles die out.”....Usopp has been doing puzzles since she was little. It's about time to start that again, and maybe her crew will join in.Can be read as a stand alone
Relationships: Mugiwara Kaizoku ︳Strawhat Pirates & Usopp
Series: I am Me (no need to ask questions) [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1679704
Kudos: 39





	Puzzles of Memory (won't you help me?)

“Usopp!!” Luffy shouts from the deck. It was a nice day outside, if you ignored the hail crashing down on deck and the hurricane in the distance. “Usopp? Are you working?” She ran around inside searching. Franky was easy to find, but she was working. There was Namizo and Brook, but Namizo never wanted to play and Brook looked serious for some reason. It wasn’t the time.

She ended up in the Galley looking for food and finally found Usopp! Which wasn’t necessarily her goal when looking there, but hey! Usopp!

“Hey! Hey, Usopp, hey! Let’s go play! Come oooon,” her body stretched from its place at the door so only her hands and face reached where the other girl was sitting. Right after latching onto Usopp’s shoulders, Luffy snapped back, dragging Usopp with.

“Ow! Luffy, stop! I’m working on something, we can play in a bit!” Luffy looked at the table. There were some colorful things and some non-colorful things and it just looked like a big mess.

“Cool! What are you doing? Can I help? Is it fun?” She zipped over and sat exactly where Usopp had been. Usopp grumbled, hiding her smile.

“I don’t know, it might be too much for you to handle! I am revealing the secrets hidden within each piece of wood you see before you! It takes time, and focus, and the foresight only a master painter could achieve! Without that, I’m afraid, you would never be able to force the pieces to show their true form!”

“Cool!” Luffy’s eyes lit up and she stared at the project infront of her. “So it’s a Mystery project!” Usopp shot a thumbs up to one corner of the room, pretending her audience sat watching the scene play out.

“I really am a goddess,” she mumbled to herself as Luffy began picking up the pieces and turning them over.

The two worked for a few minutes, Luffy surprisingly working well in the relative quiet. Usopp could tell she was starting to get bored, though. Her concentration was slipping and she glanced around the kitchen. And Sanji wasn’t there to protect it. She would kill Usopp if Luffy managed to ransack the kitchen and steal all the meat, again, and eat it raw, again. Heck, even Chopper might kill her!

“Alright, should we go play now?” Luffy vibrated with excitement.

“Yeah!” She pulled Usopp out of the room again, ignoring the growing bits of hail that covered the deck. A few giant bruises were better than a flaming kick or muscle point.

By the time Usopp was released from her captain and made her way back to the galley, a few more pieces were placed.

“Oh, so you’re the one working on the puzzle. What’s it supposed to be?” Sanji was cooking, her hair tied up and her pantsuit’s jacket resting on a chair.

“A night scene from Water 7. I picked it up from the last town, it’s been a while since I’ve worked on a puzzle.” She kept working in silence, unconcerned when Sanji moved closer and lifted a piece with her deceptively delicate hand. A few moments of observation later and she snapped it into place and headed back to the kitchen.

Usopp felt a grin reach across her face.

“What are we having?” She listened as Sanji went into an over complicated description of a dish she learned during the 2 years they were apart, at the same time complaining about the lady who taught her the dish. Something about being as precise as Zeff with seasonings, and more so with how to cut each piece to make it perfect.

She didn’t know what to make of Sanji’s time away. She spoke fondly of some of the men and women she met, but still lost control of her blood when seeing a man ‘for the first time in two years.’

Sanji would join Usopp with the puzzle any time a dish was taking time cooking and the kitchen was still spotless. She liked to clean as she went. Even though Franky designed the kitchen to have ‘wiggle room’ if the seas got too rough - it was connected to the rest of the ship by what only could be called springs - there was always a chance of a stray dirty dish flying through the air and messing up the food. Or impaling someone.

Usopp would have to make something like that if she wanted to keep up with puzzles, actually. If it wasn’t the boat’s movement, it would be Luffy crashing into the table.

…

“Usopp, could I join you today?” Robin surfaced from the library, book in hand. He didn’t wait for a nod, but he didn’t need to.

“Do you puzzle often?” He questioned, lifting his book up. Not once in the time since Robin joined the crew had he seen Usopp indicate an interest in the pastime.

“I did it a lot with my mom and when I was still on my island, but not much after we started traveling. It was too hard to find any good ones, or we were too busy running from some group of people that I couldn’t stop and look for any.” Robin hummed.

“Would you like company as you work?”

“Absolutely! Not that I need it, of course. I am the Master of Puzzles, known among all the blues to have the analytical mind necessary for working my way through and concentrating harder than any who have come before or after me! Of course, I had to give away my title, lest challengers stop coming forth and the art of puzzles die out.”

She didn’t comment as Robin would use his devil fruit hands every so often to place a piece. Usopp had no idea where the eye was, but at long as it wasn’t on her head she was fine. Or as long as she didn’t know.

…

The next time Usopp saw her puzzle it was resting on a strange contraption. There was a Sunny head made from sketched puzzle pieces drawn into the top of the thing with her puzzle resting inside, safe from Luffy and all the destruction that happens around the ship.

Usopp made sure to help Franky out on her next few projects, despite the lack of eyebrows she received for her effort.

And the smell that lasted no matter how many salt-water showers she took. Namizo was going to get mad at both of them. He was scary when irritated, even though he and Usopp were partners in running away.

…

“Oi, Luffy!” Usopp shouted. They were being attacked by some pirates who just wanted their treasure (ha! Like Namizo would let them) and Luffy had disappeared. Maybe she was asleep, but that would never happen if there was a fight! She would sense it or something, and would burst through the floor while sleeping just to beat a few people up!

No. Really. That happened once before. Franky scolded her, and then Namizo did and Luffy ended up with a bump on her head.

Maybe she got kidnapped? On purpose? But that would mean the other pirates would be lording that over them. They seemed that level of stupid.

“Luffy?” Usopp got away from the fighting for a moment. Robin had the area handled, and Franky was coming out with her new invention. It wasn’t a weapon, but it might explode. Testing it outside was just double the benefit, and she wouldn't even have to clean it up! Genius! Usopp might have to do that with her next experiment.

“Luffy!” Of course she was in the galley. But… the puzzle? Not food?

“Oh! Hey, Usopp! I have this piece and I know it goes somewhere but I can’t _find_ it!” Luffy looked so, so sad. Usopp had to sit down and help, the battle be damned.

The others walked inside to be greeted with “AHA!” as Luffy slammed her piece into the center area - after Usopp had formed the center with the pieces that would attach with hers.

...

Brook was a near constant companion when Usopp went in to work. She sometimes would take her skeletal fingers to hook around the pieces and lift off the table, careful not to break the wooden chips. It was harder for her to hold since they could fall through the openings in her palm, but that didn’t seem to bother her.

They would work in silence unless she decided to play some music, only her favorites of course. When she played Zoro would come to rest in the galley, sometimes bringing Luffy with her.

All in all, she finished the puzzle much quicker than it used to take her, alone, living in her house after her mum died. Those would sit around for months before Usopp managed to finish it. It was nice having help.

“You know,” Namizo started. Usopp hadn’t even realized he was around, must have snuck in with Luffy. “You could make your own puzzle. You have the artistry down. I’ve seen some of the paintings you only hang in the girl’s room.”

“Sis! That would be SUPER!” Franky shouted as she walked into the room. One of her giant robotic hands slammed into Usopp's back and she stumbled forward.

There were a lot of people in the galley, it must be time for food. That… could actually make more sense than people just coming in to talk about her puzzle skills. Though that could totally happen.

“Yeah, and when you sell them you can start paying back your debt. You’re a few thousand behind, and don't think I won’t count every berri.” Usopp shivered. Maybe she wasn’t as close of mates with Namizo as she thought.

Oh, who was she kidding. Of course she was, Namizo was just a demon when it came to cash. Not even death would stop him from collecting.

“That’s… an idea.” She didn’t really want to sell her art, and she wasn’t super interested in making puzzles, but it might be a better option than selling herself to Namizo as a slave. Besides, Brook managed to survive as an artist and a pirate, so it couldn't be too hard. Sure, if she had a gig she needed to make sure everyone knew to run if the marines showed up, and they were always a same-day announcement since you can’t necessarily alert the marines where you’re going…

Yeah, Usopp didn’t see the upside.

Machines she could sell, those were meant to be used and so many of her inventions were sitting around collecting dust. She didn’t even need to use most of them since there were the upgraded versions! And she kept all of her schematics religiously, so no issue there either.

Might as well save the joy of puzzles for herself, and maybe the crew if they want to keep helping out.

“But I don’t think I’ll do that. Sorry, Namizo. Luffy!” She took a page out of her captain’s book and jumped onto the rubber gir.

“What puzzle do you want to do next?”


End file.
